이 논문은 제주도 설화 원형에 등장하는 주요 캐릭터들을 캐릭터 상품으로 개발하려 할 때 어떤 방향으로 개발할 것인가에 대한 방법을 모색하기 위해 작성 되었다. 제주도의 설화는 콘텐츠소스로서의 무한한 가능성을 가지고 있다. 하지만 아직 대중적으로 그 내용이 널리 알려져 있지 못하다. 제주 설화를 문화콘텐츠 상품으로 가공하기 위해서는 상품의 개발도 중요하지만 이를 널리 알리는 것이 매우 중요하다. 그러기 위해서는 제주 설화를 디지털 콘텐츠로 변용하여 널리 알려지게 만드는 것이 필수적이다. 지역마다 여건은 조금씩 다를 수 있지만, 지역의 설화를 캐릭터 상품으로 개발하는 데는 위에 언급한 난관들로 인해 많은 어려움이 따른다. 특히 제주도는 타 지역보다 관련 산업기반이 허약하고 제조시설이 없다는 한계 때문에 이를 상품화하는 데는 더 큰 제약이 따를 수밖에 없다. 그러므로 직접적인 상품개발보다는 간접적인 방법을 활용하는 것이 효과적일 수 있다. 이 글에서는 이러한 지역적인 한계를 극복하는 방안으로 세 가지를 제시했다. 첫째, 산업적인 기반이나 자본, 인력 등이 부족한 제주도에서는 직접적인 상품의 개발보다 제주 설화 원형에 대한 관련 자료들을 데이터화하고 이를 체계적으로 제시하는 것. 둘째, 인간캐릭터 위주인 설화원형을 캐릭터 상품화하기 위해서는 다양한 보조캐릭터를 개발. 셋째, 기존의 상품을 보호하고 새로운 가치를 창출하려는 노력도 필요하다는 것이다.

The Jeju Island is an island and treasure of legends, having about 18,000 gods and goddesses. Thus, it has made various ways of efforts to develop the archetypes of folktales into cultural contents and goods. In order to develop character goods, a type of cultural goods, out of the archetypes of folktales, it is essential to understand the character industry and it is required to imbue such character goods with sustainable vitality. For this reason, it is somewhat inadequate to develop character goods as public resources. At present, most of local self governing bodies are using onedimensional graphic characters, and it is not easy to transform such graphic characters into various forms of character goods. As most of the characters were designed in haste, moreover, they are little merchantable. It is because imbuing ``sustainable vitality`` is more important than developing goods in the character industry. Although somewhat varying among the regions, there are many restrictions in developing character goods out of local folktales for the reasons as mentioned above. Particularly because the Jeju Island is weak in its industrial foundation without manufacturing facilities, its ability to merchandise character goods is highly limited. Therefore, it may be more effective to utilize characters indirectly rather than to develop character goods directly. In order to overcome such regional limitations, this study suggested three strategies. First, in the Jeju Island lacking in industrial bases, capitals, and human resources, it is more important to build data on the archetypes of folktales in the island and present them systematically rather than to develop goods directly. This will make it easy for industries and creators to produce various contents using Jeju folktales. Considering the poorness of the island in the foundation of related industries, it is more practical to provide well?organized materials so that the materials may be usable in various areas. This effort is expected to popularize the contents of Jeju folktales widely and then the potential for commercialization will be enhanced and direct development of related goods can be considered. Second, it is important to develop various supporting characters in order to merchandise the archetypes of folktales, whose characters are mostly humans. In the process of collecting and organizing related materials, it is necessary to take interest in supporting characters and define them systematically. There are not many animal characters, gods, ghosts, etc. appearing in the archetypes of Jeju folktales. Therefore, it is necessary to develop usable supporting characters separately because such characters will enrich storytelling. Third, it is preferable to develop new goods, but efforts should also be made to create new added values in existing well?known goods. For example, ``Dol Harubang,`` which is a representative cultural product of Jeju, is not protected as an intellectual property, and for this reason, it is not managed properly. Because it is perceived by people to be cultural goods representing the Jeju Island, it requires systematic management. The reason that ``Dol Harubang`` should be managed is that it is much more efficient in terms of cost to imbue existing goods with sustainable vitality than to develop new goods. What is more, we may consider establishing a new certification system for local cultural goods for certification and distribution using existing ``Jeju Massim.`` The Jeju Island has exerted various efforts to develop cultural contents and goods based on its folktales. Jeju folktales contain a potential commercial value that exceeds the value of the natural landscape of the island. Nevertheless, the island, as a locality, has limitations in developing and merchandising them. We expect the creation of new values through cooperation with various areas and experts.